Upper respiratory tract microbiota is associated with small airway function and asthma severity

BACKGROUND: Characteristics of airway microbiota might influence asthma status or asthma phenotype. Identifying the airway microbiome can help to investigate its role in the development of asthma phenotypes or small airway function. METHODS: Bacterial microbiota profiles were analyzed in induced sputum from 31 asthma patients and 12 healthy individuals from Beijing, China. Associations between small airway function and airway microbiomes were examined. RESULTS: Composition of sputum microbiota significantly changed with small airway function in asthma patients. Two microbiome-driven clusters were identified and characterized by small airway function and taxa that had linear relationship with small airway functions were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that airway microbiota was associated with small airway function in asthma patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12866-023-02757-5.